Comments on: Sen. Kennedy’s 1972 Visit to Albanyhttp://blog.timesunion.com/storyofalbany/sen-kennedys-1972-visit-to-albany/223/
Help write the Story of Albany and leave your mark on the city's 400-year-old narrative. With your help, we’ll create a book.Mon, 26 Apr 2010 02:17:36 +0000hourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.2By: Phil Guntherhttp://blog.timesunion.com/storyofalbany/sen-kennedys-1972-visit-to-albany/223/#comment-214
Tue, 29 Sep 2009 23:58:26 +0000http://blog.timesunion.com/storyofalbany/?p=223#comment-214In response to Hillary (#4) you are correct, Sen. McGovern campaigned at the old Starlight Theatre (Latham) in the summer of 1972. I was there, also.
]]>By: C.Izzohttp://blog.timesunion.com/storyofalbany/sen-kennedys-1972-visit-to-albany/223/#comment-180
Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:24:26 +0000http://blog.timesunion.com/storyofalbany/?p=223#comment-180I was there and the throng was at least 100,000 people — for an unpopular candidate. It might as well have been Abraham Lincoln. Politics is so different now. I nore recently saw Frank Lautenberg speak on a street corner to a crowd of exactly 3 people. Once the TV camera stopped he got in his car and was driven away to his next appearance…and he won.
]]>By: Markhttp://blog.timesunion.com/storyofalbany/sen-kennedys-1972-visit-to-albany/223/#comment-52
Mon, 31 Aug 2009 20:16:50 +0000http://blog.timesunion.com/storyofalbany/?p=223#comment-52It was my first large political rally also. I hadn’t thought of it in quite some time, until a couple of yrs ago, when then-Sen. Clinton was running for president & held a similar rally on the Capitol steps surrounded by virtually every State-level politician.
]]>By: Hillary Hipsterhttp://blog.timesunion.com/storyofalbany/sen-kennedys-1972-visit-to-albany/223/#comment-51
Mon, 31 Aug 2009 19:45:49 +0000http://blog.timesunion.com/storyofalbany/?p=223#comment-51I recall attending a McGovern speech at the old Latham Theater. I remember the Star Spangled Washobard Band performingbefore the Senator!

I wonder if that speech took place the same night as this downtown event–or if McGovern returned for an additional visit?

]]>By: Elizabethhttp://blog.timesunion.com/storyofalbany/sen-kennedys-1972-visit-to-albany/223/#comment-50
Sun, 30 Aug 2009 11:04:52 +0000http://blog.timesunion.com/storyofalbany/?p=223#comment-50This was a big event – our 7th grade class from Guilderland went down to the Capital on the bus. I don’t remember any of the speeches but do remember seeing all the officials. My first big rally.
]]>By: SaratogaJimhttp://blog.timesunion.com/storyofalbany/sen-kennedys-1972-visit-to-albany/223/#comment-49
Sat, 29 Aug 2009 06:12:12 +0000http://blog.timesunion.com/storyofalbany/?p=223#comment-49My first event of that kind as well, and while I don’t remember the speeches, I do remember McGovern barely getting started when the storm hit, and him yelling something like “get out and vote” before everybody ran for cover.
]]>By: Tom Clinganhttp://blog.timesunion.com/storyofalbany/sen-kennedys-1972-visit-to-albany/223/#comment-45
Thu, 27 Aug 2009 21:10:54 +0000http://blog.timesunion.com/storyofalbany/?p=223#comment-45This was the first big-time political rally that I’d ever attended. There was quite a delay getting started, and one speaker (possibly Ted Kennedy) joked that “our wiring people weren’t as practiced as Nixon’s,” a reference to Watergate.

But the most memorable part was that part-way through George McGovern’s speech, the skies opened up in an absolute deluge, scattering both the officials and the crowd. You can see an umbrella in one of Mr. Gunther’s photos.